Several weeks had passed since the awful shore leave trial and nothing exciting had happened, much to the dismay of the Spartans stationed here. It seemed like they were on the verge of starting their own little war for some action when the announcement went out.

"Spartans 283 and 369 report to Spartan Command for mission assignment and briefing."

---

Tavish had been sitting here for a while, now, he sometimes got his guns out, but he'd cleaned them well over an hour ago. He just seemed to mope around lately. Moping seemed inadequate however, Tavish moped like an iceburg. He only stood up when he was called out to come to the command, he might as well see this bit through.

---

"And the Admiral said if I wanted backup to bring you along." Spook said to Scorch as they entered the armory. "This sort of thing isn't exactly in my skill set. He said to stay together, but if you can see to the evac of the ground team when we find them I'll slip on ahead and recover the AI."

"That sounds like a plan to me." Scorch told her with a nod as he collected his weapons from the clerk. He wasn't wasting time with the pleasantries this time,.

"I'll take an extra box." Spook told the clerk, she always had room for extra ammo. "The Admiral said we ship out as soon as the bird is ready." She told Scorch.

The clerk handed over two cases of ammo for Spook with a nod. He also reached down and grabbed a small box and set it up on the counter. "Just got these in today and thought you would be interested in them." The box looked like any regular box of shotgun shells except there was a bio hazard symbol on the side.

Scorch tilted his head to the side, "Bio hazard shots? I must say, you have me intrigued." He leaned against the counter, "Do tell. What am I dealing with here?"

"Well, if the brochure is anything to go by, half the pellets arent metal. They are in fact small capsules filled with a highly acidic compound. Once the shell is fired and the pellets contact the target they immediately burst. Supposed to help against those highly armored targets." The clerk said as he pulled a shell out to examine it.

"Why does he get cool new ammo and I don't?" Spook said as if she were hurt. Then again a good number of her shells had explosive tips and all were armor piercing. But she spoke to the armory clerk more than anyone on the base, how the hell did Scorch get special treatment?

The clerk held up his hands defensively. "Hey, I was just passing on the new merchandise. I dont control what we get in or what they make in the R&D department. If you want special ammo, just right them a nice letter."

"Good idea." Spook said sarcastically.

"It's about time they responded..." Scorch replied as he snatched up the special ammo. "I've been begging them for anything at all to make the shotgun a better weapon. Did I tell you how I found that ancient AA-12 still in working condition? That thing's a relic and still it's better than what we have now."

"Now now, such mean words." the clerk said with a shake of his head "If your not careful you might hurt one if the other guns."

"Come on Scorch." Spook said heading out of the armory. "I'd rather not be flooded by wept gun oil."

"Hey hey, I love my shotgun. I'm just saying." Scorch replied defensively. "The R&D guys told me that they couldn't replicate the ammo packs for the AA-12. That's just sad, isn't it? The gun is centuries old, and they can't replicate that tech?"

"Because it's old." Spook said heading out of the armory and to the hangar.